Fly Again
by Regalredstar
Summary: Eventually the day comes when all Birds must Fly Again...


_Disclaimer: I Don't Own Anything._

 _Fly Again/_

 _Once upon a time there was a beautiful bird that flew higher and stronger than any of the others. The bird delighted in using her strength and beautiful wings to protect the others of her flock. She was happy dancing through the night, fighting off all who would harm those who she considered hers._

 _But then one day there came a time of great darkness and the bird found herself tumbling to be ground. Separated from the skies that she had loved and those she had once protected._

 _For many years she wandered the ground until she came to a new place and found new people to protect. Still though she did not return to the skies to dance upon the breeze once more._

 _But eventually the day comes when all birds must fly again…_

Prologue

"Oracle, you have to turn on the television now." Late evening was falling over New Gotham as Jesse Reese's voice came over the comms.

"Okay, Reese. Give me a second." Barbara maneuvered her chair over to the television. "Is there a particular channel I should have on?"

"Doesn't matter." Reese sounded slightly frantic. "It should be on every channel."

"Really?" That piqued Babs interest. She had been so absorbed in the project that she was working on that she hadn't been paying attention to what was going on in the wider world.

Curious, she turned her attention to the television.

As Reese had said, all of the channels were reporting on the same story. The screen showed a surprising tableau. Men and women, some of them barely appearing to be human, stood at the top of a barricade, a flag flying defiantly behind them. The words "TRANSGENICS DECLARE INDEPENDENCE" scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

Babs' mind was running at a million miles an hour as she studied the image on screen. She had been meaning to look into these man-made metahumans for a while now, but, well, things in New Gotham were always so busy and Seattle was on the opposite side of the country. "The transgenics declaring independence? Is that what you wanted me to see?"

"Yes. No. Sort of." Reese,'s voice sounded frustrated. "Look, the blonde woman on the left side of the barricade. Tell me if that's who I think it is."

Babs turned her attention to the indicated woman. What she saw took her breath away. "Helena."

She could hear the resignation in his voice. "That's what I thought. I wonder why she's decided to resurface after all this time."

Barbara could understand why his emotions seemed so mixed. On the one hand Helena had left, walked away without even letting anyone know that she was leaving. On the other though, well, Babs would be the first to admit that they had all checked out a bit when the pulse hit. They had left Helena to carry the weight of all of them, completely ignoring the fact that she was hurting too. Really, it was a miracle that she had made it as long as she had.

"I don't know. I have no idea what she's thinking. But then, I don't even know where she's been all these years." Despite her best efforts Babs couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"It doesn't matter." The sound of Dinah's voice startled Barbara. She hadn't realized that the younger woman was listening. "It doesn't matter where Helena's been, or why she decided to come back now, or even why she left in the first place. All that matters is the fact that she is back, and she needs our help."

"You're right of course." Dinah's reprimand left Babs feeling a little embarrassed, and from the sound of his voice Reese was feeling the same way. "But how exactly are we supposed to help? Seattle isn't exactly close to here."

"Which is why we're going to Seattle." Barbara tried to make her voice as businesslike as possible. Determinedly she turned to the one person who hadn't contributed to the conversation yet. "Alfred, get the plane prepared."

"Of course." As always Alfred was the consummate professional. (Well almost always. A treacherous part of Barbara's mind whispered about the way he had disappeared back to Bruce's side after the Pulse.)

"We need another person." Reese's voice cut through Babs' thoughts. "No offense guys, but I'm going to need backup in the field, and I don't think that you guys will cut it this time."

"True." Dinah agreed. "My powers are going to be worse than useless in this situation."

Babs suppressed a wince. The thought of a touch telepath in a crowd like the one on the screen wasn't a pleasant one.

"If I may," Alfred interjected. "I may have a solution to this dilemma." Babs felt a sense of dread settle in her gut. He couldn't be about to suggest what she thought he was going to. "Perhaps Young Master Dick would be willing to go and provide some backup for Mister Reese?" And of course he had.

"Young Master Dick?" Reese sounded a little to curious for Barbara's taste.

"He means Lieutenant Richard Grayson of the Bludhaven PD." She heard herself say.

She could tell that he was having difficulty keeping the hero worship out of his voice. "Richard Grayson? You mean the man who almost singlehandedly cleaned up the most dangerous city in America?"

Babs wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Umm… Yes. Dick was Helena's father's ward when we were kids." She tried to keep any traces of her history with Dick out of her voice.

From the sound of Reese's voice she failed. "Helena's father's ward? So what he's like her older brother?"

"In a way."

"And being that he's Helena's brother in a way, am I wrong in believing that he is also a vigilante of some sort?"

"Nightwing." Barbara kept her voice monotone.

"Nightwing." Reese couldn't quite keep the incredulity out of his voice. "You're telling me that Richard Grayson the most decorated officer in the history of the BPD, is Nightwing."

"Yes." She knew her answer sounded curt, but she found that he didn't care. "Helena's father was Batman and Dick is Nightwing."

"Right. Helena's father was Batman." The man had worked with them for over a decade. You'd think that he would be used to this by now. "And I suppose her mother was Batgirl."

"No." That answer sent a lance through Babs heart. "I was. Selena was Catwoman."

"Wasn't she a thief?" Of course he would know that. Never mind that Selena had retired before he was even born. The detective had probably read everything ever written on Old Gotham and its heroes and villains.

"Yes."

"But… if she was a thief and he was Batman…"

Babs sighed. "They had a… complicated relationship."

She could practically hear the raised eyebrows. "I can imagine."

Alfred cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I do believe that we are straying from the topic a little. We were discussing the likelihood of Young Master Dick's assisting us in locating Miss Helena."

Babs heard herself sigh for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "I'll call Dick." After all, he might actually pick up her call. The same couldn't be said for Alfred. "The rest of you get packing We'll meet here at the clocktower tonight for further planning, then head for Seattle as soon as all of the arrangements are made."

The others voiced their agreement, and then headed their separate ways. Once she was alone, Babs turned to look at the phone. As she stared at it what felt like a million thoughts began to run through her head. How long had it been since she last spoke to Dick? 5 years? 6? They hadn't exactly parted on good terms. Would he even pick up?

She needn't have worried. Dick picked up on the second ring. "Barbara."

"Dick." The very sound of his voice brought back so many memories, good and bad.

"I assume you're calling about what's happening in Seattle?" He was all business. That was good. It meant that she could be too.

"You saw then."

"Hard not to. It's on every channel." She could practically see him running his hand across his face the way he did when he was stressed. "Man made meta-humans Babs? How did we miss this? How did all of us miss this?"

"Helena didn't."

He laughed ruefully. "Given her current location, I guess she didn't."

"We're going out to help her."

"I assumed you were."

"Will you go with us? I wouldn't ask, but Reese needs back up, and Dinah and I don't exactly qualify."

"Whereas no one will look twice at the best detective of NGPD and the 'Hero of the BPD' temporarily transferring in to help with the transgenic crisis. After all, they should have plenty of experience dealing with the weird." As always he had a perfect grasp of the tactical situation. Bruce had trained him well. (Not that Babs would ever voice that thought to Dick. They both had their issues with the Old Man that were best left unsaid.)

"Exactly. So will you come?"

"Of course." He sounded insulted that she had even asked the question. "You'll take of the technical side." It wasn't a question.

"Of course." She would have been insulted if it had been.

"Then I'll meet you at the clock tower tomorrow. Will you send me the new code?"

"No need," She felt a flush of embarrassment paint her cheeks. "Your code will still work."

"Babs!" A tone of mock scolding filled his voice. "How irresponsible. Whatever were you thinking!"

She stayed silent. What was she supposed to say? 'Well actually I was hoping that you would come home again and by not changing your code I was making it so you could'? Yeah that wouldn't be awkward at all.

At last he broke the silence. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." As she hung up the phone she tried to force her heart to slow down. Damn that man and his ability to make her feel like an awkward 16-year-old.

Shaking her head she worked at forcing him out of her mind. She wasn't 16 any more and she had work to do.

 _AN: So here you go. At long last the final Again story. I've already begun work on the next chapter and the 3_ _rd_ _is sketched out. I've come to the decision that this summer I am going to force myself to finish my WiPs so please, yell at me if I don't post at least SOMETHING every day. Trust me it will motivate me more than you realize._

 _The next thing I post will probably be a Valentine oneshot called The Path of Orpheus, then I'm trying for the next chapter of Soldier-Priest and the next chapter of Ghosts. There may be a couple of other oneshots and possibly a Father-Son story in there as well. We'll see. If I haven't posted by something else by noon tomorrow please come yell at me._

 _Til Then,_

 _Regal_


End file.
